"Albert William Johnson."(1921-2010).

Albert started out selling cars door to door because because as an African-American,he wasn't welcome on the showroom floor of the dealership he worked for near St.Louis. That changed when he acquired his own new-car business in 1967,a faltering South Side Oldsmobile dealership that he turned around before going on to greater success selling Cadillacs.He was an accomplished salesman,he also acknowledged what he didn't know.He got from other GM dealerships in the areas of business he was less familiar with-the business office,parts and repair.In 1971.he he started selling Cadillacs at a dealership in the south shore neighborhood, six years later he moved to Tinley Park.Mr.Johnson sold his dealership in 1994.Mr. Johnson was born in st.Louis.His father was a doctor who wanted his son to follow in that profession.But Mr.Johnson later said he didn't care for the long hours his father put in,and instead went to work as a hospital administrator.He received a master's degree in hospital administration from the University of Chicago.He strated out selling cars in St.Louis in 1953,later moving to an Oldsmobile dealership in Kirkwood,Mo.,where he was known as "the man who sold cars from a briefcase."